To no surprise Toronto forward Alexei Ponikarovsky has been told he will be moved. Sources close to the Maple Leaf tell me it's down to 2 teams and the deal is likely to do down sometime in the morning. There are a few deals on the table and word is Brian Burke is in the process of deciding which way he wants to go. Bob McKenzie is reporting a deal with Pittsburgh is in place.
Speaking of Toronto, it shouldn't be a surprised Tomas Kaberle hasn't given Burke a list of teams he wants to be traded to. The Kaberle camp told Toronto last year they wouldn't give the team a list. The last thing Kaberle is looking to do is provide a list and then hear rumors on a daily basis of where he might end up. There is a window between the last day of the regular season and August 15th where Kaberle's no-trade is lifted and the team can move the world class D-man without his permission.
With all this being said Kaberle has not been approached by Toronto regarding a possible deal.
Ducks D-man Ryan Whitney appears to be on the move. He had a no-trade inserted into his original contract but the no-trade did not travel with him when he was traded to Anaheim from Pittsburgh. He's not old enough to have a no-trade anyway, the NTC would have entually kicked in once he met the proper age requirement.
I've been told there will be no last minute St. Louis scratches before the Blues battle Phoenix later tonight.
Leafs D-man Jeff Finger has been a healthy scratch the last several games and I would not read into him not being in the lineup tonight vs. Carolina. He has an incredibly difficult contract to move and doesn't appear to be headed anywhere.
earlier stories....
Good Afternoon.....
Colorado is shopping Marek Svatos who has pretty much been relegated to fourth line duties in recent games. Not sure he has much value but there could be a team out there who believes he can still score.
There is some chatter that Washington could move Tomas Fleishman but there's nothing to it. He's not going anywhere.
A few teams are kicking tires curious to know what Florida would want in return for Tomas Vokoun. So far the Panthers have not asked Vokoun to waive his no-trade clause.
It's only a matter of hours before the Leafs move Alexei Ponikarovsky.
Edmonton may have to start packaging guys if they want to move Ethan Moreau who has a year left on his deal not to mention how often he gets hurt.
The Anaheim Ducks are shopping D-man Ryan Whitney who I thought was supposed to replace Chris Pronger.
Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington appear to be in on every quality D-man available.
The agent for Tomas Plekanec and Montreal have had some real productive conversations. It's doubtful an extension will be finalized before the deadline but they will eventually come to terms.
Source close to Vancouver (property) goaltender Cory Schneider tells me things appear to be relatively quiet. We all know that can change quickly.
Stay tuned..... www.twitter.com/andystrickland
Earlier Story....
Good morning.
Word around the NHL is that there are currently 10 teams who consider themselves buyers, five who consider themselves sellers, while the rest of the teams are still trying to determine what they want to do.
Most Gm’s (if they were doing their job) did most of their work prior to the Olympics and spent most of Monday following up with the teams they feel they can get a deal done with.
With that being said you can never predict when a deal will get done. A team can call at the last second and make a trade. This has happened on numerous occasions in including a few years ago when the Blues sent Christian Backman to the Rangers. The two teams had no prior discussions discussing the player but got a deal done just minutes before the deadline.
Rink Rats!
The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to move a D-man after picking up Jordan Leopold from Florida.
Look for Jay McKee, who doesn’t have a no-trade clause, to potentially be playing for a new team by mid-week.
I have heard (as absurd as it may be) Pittsburgh would entertain offers for Sergei Gonchar if the team was able to negotiate an extension with the All-World D-man first and gave up a high end scoring winger to Pittsburgh in return.
I, for one, can’t see this happening as Gonchar is one of if not the top power play D-man in the world.
Washington is looking for D-man to add before Wednesday’s deadline. Blues defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo could be of interest to the Capitals.
Devils D-man Paul Martin remains ten days away from returning from injury to the New Jersey lineup.
Florida has a few more pieces they could move but D-man Keith Ballard apparently is one of them. Slowly but surely goaltender Tomas Vokoun is receiving some interest. Vokoun’s $5.7 cap hit carries into next season.
Detroit is apparently in an interesting position money wise where they need to move a body but can’t take on any bodies in return. Stay tuned.
I’m told New York Islanders goaltender Rick Dipietro is dealing with swelling in his knee which means GM Garth Snow may be forced to hang on to his other two goaltenders Martin Biron and Dwayne Roloson who both would be attractive to teams looking for goaltending insurance.
One of those appears to be Philadelphia who signed Chris Pronger in the summer for a reason. They want to win now, can they do it with Brian Boucher or Michael Leighton?
Speaking of Philly, they are not the only team expressing interest in promising young D-man Dan Hamhuis. Predators GM David Poile has always been an intelligent manager this time of year and he’s sitting back waiting for the best offer to come along.
Going back to the Islanders, you would think they would consider themselves sellers being 6 points out with four teams to leap over. I would imagine Sutton, Sim, Tambellini, Gervais, Meyer, and Witt are all available.
Look for Islanders Captain Doug Weight to have shoulder surgery as soon as his team falls out of the playoff race. Weight is still very much considering playing another season.
Source very close to the Bostin Bruins and Blake Wheeler tells me they are not shopping the young forward.
Another young forward, Phoenix Coyotes forward Peter Mueller can be had for the right price. Not sure why, but he’s developed an interesting reputation but many hockey people still believe he can be a quality NHL scorer.
Teams are continuing to express interest in Oilers Captain Ethan Moreau.
There are people out there speculating that Nikolai Khabibulin’s career may be done because of his current back problems.
Interesting contract Calgary handed Matt Stajan, that’s a lot of money for that kid in my opinion.
Why did Calgary feel the need to give Rene Bourque a six year extension? Wouldn’t three have been good enough?
Follow the latest trade deadline scoops on twitter. www.twitter.com/andystrickland
Blues Clues!
The Blues will not be negotiating any contract extensions with any of their current Ufa’s or Rfa’s until after the season. This obviously includes the likes of Erik Johnson and David Perron.
Speaking of EJ, if he’s going to play the way he did in the Olympics then the team needs to give him the green light to just play. Find him a partner who won’t restrict his game and the organization must learn to live with his mistakes. The team drafted this kid first overall fir a reason, let him play. As well as Eric Brewer has played as of late I’m not sold on Brewer as the best partner for Johnson.
As of late last night Paul Kariya had not been asked to waive his no-movement clause. Would he if given a chance to play for a contender? I’m told he would.
I’ve been told Nashville had been thinking about a package deal for both Carlo Colaiacovo and Brad Boyes, but I’m not sure how much I’m buying it.
The Hannu Toivonen trade was about getting both he and this kid Joe Fallon a change of scenery.
Word is Ben Bishop has not played well as of late and the organization expects him to be better than he has been. He remains a ways from becoming a full-time NHL goalie.
Darryl Sydor and Dwayne King are the healthy scratches tonight against Phoenix.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
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St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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